"Nashville" stars to play at Rock County 4-H Fair

JANESVILLE (WKOW) – For fans of the ABC television show “Nashville,” they’ll have the chance to see the stars behind the characters Deacon Claybourne and Scarlett O’Connor perform at the Rock County 4-H Fair on Saturday. Charles Esten, who goes by Chip, and Clare Bowen will hit the stage at 8 p.m. at the fair as part of Esten’s tour.

“This is one of the many amazing byproducts of this great show that I get to be on, ‘Nashville’,” said Esten about the tour.

Visiting the area is also personal for Esten; his wife has family in the Janesville area, and her father visited the very same fair that Esten will play at as a boy in the 1950s. Esten will be joined on his visit to Wisconsin by his wife and their three children. Esten says he loves the area.

“I feel real fortunate to get to play it,” he says.

Joining Esten at the Rock County 4-H Fair is fellow "Nashville" star Clare Bowen, who plays his character’s niece, Scarlett. Esten says Bowen is wonderful and called her ‘flat-out talented,’ which he says fans can see on the show.

“It’s a great mix, the two of us,” Esten says. “We love doing the scenes together where I play her uncle, and so it seemed to make a lot of sense to actually go on the road together. We’re different, pretty different musically out on stage, but we come together for a couple of songs that we do on the show as well and when we do, it’s one of my favorite parts.”

Some of those songs "Nashville" viewers would recognize include “This Town” and “A Life That’s Good.” Esten says they generally perform “A Life That’s Good” at the end of the night as a sort of thank you to the audience.

“It’s still something different to get to go out on the road and to see the depth of passion that people have for these characters and these stories and these songs and it’s amazing how many they know all the words to and “A Life That’s Good” is really one that so many know all the words to.”

Esten’s also looking forward to seeing “Nashville” fans at the fair. He says meeting them is a thrill. “None of it is lost on me in terms of I’m so grateful to the people that love our show. I’m so happy for it.”

Nashville has already started taping its third season. You can buy tickets to Saturday’s show here.